My tour of the amazing & vintage Concord Mall in Elkhart Indiana WWW.PATREON.COM/ACESADVENTURES INSTAGRAM & TWITTER - @ACESADVENTURES1 FACEBOOK - ACESADVENTURES
They need to designate that place a historic landmark. I would hate for us to lose such a beautiful examples of 1970s architecture and interior design.
Isn't that how it usually goes with demolishing old buildings: "you don't know what you got til its gone." Why do we have to keep making the same mistakes. Thanks for the reply.
If the mall management/owners were clever they'd make use of and push that 70's aesthetic. When a new tenant comes in, require their store facade to keep with the theme of the era. It could be a selling point for the place. Just remember, what looks "dated" right now will become "retro someday.
I agree, but maintenence to keep it up would be in the millions. Who pays it? Maybe make a museum and stage all the stores with fake stores from the past and charge admission. What stores would have to be included?
I love this! I was there for the grand opening day of this mall. August 9, 1972. Yes, Concord mall has NOT changed since it's opening. The floor tiles, wall architecture and even the sunken floor rest areas are all original. The center court mall fountain was shut down in 1990 and was replaced with the RV park theme toys. Believe it or not, this mall used to be packed on the weekends! It was a nice mall well ahead of it's time back in the 70's and 80's. It started dying a slow death in the early 90's and is now in it's current state of a barren waste land.
Extremely rare to see a basically untouched mall. I love the lights, the lighting of everything, the colors and all of the vintage architecture, an absolute gem.
Me too. If I had a mall I would give it three sections that looked like a mall did in the mid 1950s, mid 60s and early to late 70s. Music from each decade would play in those sections, there would be employees dressed in period clothing etc., and I would try to get some of the stores to sell vintage merchandise. I know sadly I'll never have that kind of money, but I may try to find an empty movie theater and give it the early 1970s look, and charge 70s prices, play old movies with cartoons, news reels, old comedy shorts, vintage trailers and bumpers before the movies, like how the movie theater experience used to be. You know, when it was fun and most movies were good. That wouldn't take a lot of money.
Ben Dawson , I love nostalgia, drive-in movies. I fortunately have 3 that I can visit often. Here are some trailers and intermission films you may enjoy m.czcams.com/video/ub6aiTrPRCM/video.html there are many posted here on You Tube.
Wow, the most 70's mall I have seen thus far! The most amazing thing is how it survived the 80's and 90's without a makeover. Not only that, but it looks like it has been very well taken care of over so many decades.
Concord mall is now closed. All stores vacated. Set to be demolished. I almost teared up when I heard the news. I spent so much time there as a child and teenager. 😢
This may be one of my favorite malls that you've documented so far. I felt like I was in a time machine looking at the 70's lighting and tiles! I loved it!
You're absolutely right about this mall - I've never seen a video that shows one with this level of completely original, and rather sophisticated, 1970s architecture throughout. Personally I wouldn't feel properly dressed walking through it without wearing bell bottoms and a huge flared collar on my paisley-patterned shirt :)
Peter Stean---Bell bottom blue jeans! I remember getting a new pair caught in the chain on my bicycle. I can still hear my mother, "I just bought those and you tore them already?" I had two pairs of bell bottoms in my early teen years. No more.
When I was very little - I guess 5 or 6 years old - I had a beautiful denim suit with flares and a huge collar. I feel a little sad that early '70s fashion hasn't come back in a big way because I remember it as very stylish. I don't think I've ever looked better, in a fashion sense, than I did then!
I wonder if the architect ever would have thought that someday somebody would speak of his 'conversation pits' as being amazing ;-) But you're right, they look pretty cool just as the whole mall
As a person who lives in Indiana, i loved this mall when I was little. The potted plants, Carson's. The streamers on the ceiling. All gone. Ben's pretzels and a bunch of other stores are gone. The parking lot is never full. But it's still a historic landmark for the crossroads of America. It might be dead. But it was hella fun! I'm 13 now. 4 or 5 it was still alive but, seeing a huge chunk of my childhood slip away and rot. Hits me hard. But on 1997, its grand opening, and creation. Gives me a sense of joy for the people who stepped foot on the smooth tiles of the Concord Mall.
This is in my town and I was in high school when they built this Mall. It was the place to be. In the middle where you see the children's play area, was a huge fountain. It looked like several huge flutes standing on end and the water went clear up and over with a pool surrounding it and people would throw change in. Bad news is it is currently being forclosed on so if you're in the market for a mall, now's your chance!
Crap, just read your comment regarding the children's play area after posting! New there had to be something way more cool in that location rather than a sucky kids play area!
I grew up in Goshen and this was our local mall. My memories are of the 80's heyday of this place. I was an elementary school kid in the early-mid 80s and in Jr High in the late 80s. My first memories of the 3 anchor stores were that they were Montgomery Ward, JCPenney, and Meese. (He pronounces it as "Mice" in this video - the way we locals said it, it rhymed with "fleece") Of these, only JCP was still there when last I stopped by for nostalgia 10 years ago. The Meese became an Elder Berman and later a Carsons's that is now closed and the Montgomery Ward became Hobby Lobby. Concord Mall was often packed on 80's weekends and holidays were insane. They had an Aladdin's Castle video arcade on the stretch between JC Penney and the central fountain. That place was absolutely vintage, with old classic arcade cabinets, many that cannot be found anywhere today outside private collections. The central fountain itself was an incredible example of 70s architecture. It had multiple vertical pillars that would expel water in various different ways depending on the day. In my opinion, the golden era of Concord Mall ended when 2 things happened: Aladdin's Castle closed in 1990 followed by the demolition of the fountain in favor of the crummy children's play area you see in this video. Even so, I would still go to the Mall in the early 90's with my parents. We'd always eat at the MCL Cafeteria and then go peruse the Walden's Books Store directly across. When I left the area around 1994 the mall was in a slow decline but still doing business. 15 years later I came back to find it a ghost of it's former self. But like he says in this video - if you like vintage architecture, you'll find it here. The planters are either white tile pyramids or circular white tile seated areas and the brick masonry in the conversation pits at 5:00 in the video are exactly the way I remember them in the 80s. While it's a sad shame that the central fountain is long gone, the white 70s era floor tile around the central area remains. The masonry around the child's play area is all original and was what surrounded the fountain pit where people would toss pennies in the water. You can see this architecture at 8:00 in the video. The ceiling at 7:05 in front of JCP is vintage - that area was a central focus of traffic as the space in front of the primary anchor store. The space in front of JCP was a teenager nexus because Musicland was the store to the right of JCP and Sega's Time Out (The crappy replacement for the previously mentioned glorious Aladdin's Castle) was on the left. The long block masonry at the Carson's storefront is original to the Roberson's of 1972 and the Meese store I remember from the 80s. The front of the out-of-business bookstore seen at 2:00 is actually the original vintage storefront of the Walden's Books that used to be there, but repainted white.. The entire mall is like a time capsule to an era of 80's glory. It would be a shame to tear it down. Better to designate it as a historical landmark now that 50 years have elapsed since it's construction.
Beautiful 1970s mall. I love the interior's vintage green color tones and the lighting. Thanks for sharing this. I hope this mall keeps going and stays the way it looks inside.
I grew up going to this mall, l remember how busy it used to be. I now take my kids there, we eat Pizza at Enzos and stroll the mall. I tell my kids about the fountain (now long gone), that l used to toss pennies into, about the KB toystore. Montgomery Wards, Osco Drugs and so on. They listen but don't have those memories. Its fun...but it gives me a longing to return for a moment to those days.... I guess coming to Concord mall takes me back in time, and l don't want to let go of this one place that time has forgot.
We have an early 70s subway station similar to this in NYC. 47th Street and Broadway. Orange brick walls, cantilevered terrazzo benches, can lights, sound absorbing ceilings, terrazzo floors and one or two large baked enamel art panels. It cost millions and was a prototype that was only imitated once, at Bowling Green.
The childerns play area used to be a huge fountain with something like 3 or 4 wooden poles of various height that water came out of. I used to throw pennys in it as a kid
The last original tenant from the 1972 opening was Walden Books (03:34 - the vacant store that says "book store" in it's front window) which closed about 4 years ago.
Joann's was NOT an original anchor. that spot used to be a five and dime type store called Mc Crory's, Joanns didn't move in until the late 80s early 90s timeline....glad you stopped and enjoyed it. I only live 30 miles away now, I grew up in this mall and I need to get back and say goodbye before they tear it down
This is probably the video that best conjures up the feelings I had as a kid walking around a place like this. You don't think about it much today but the design of these places had quite the effect on the way you felt. My memories of mall shopping start in the early 80s and this is as close to what it was like back then. It feels good to know the nostalgia that sometimes crosses my brain isn't built on youthful fantasy and indeed has some basis in reality.
I swear to god I clicked on a Dan Bell video and I thought I was watching a Dan Bell video all the way up until you started to speak! Nevertheless, awesome work!! Glad I found this channel
The Carson's closing reminded me when my local mall closed up for good. Carson Pirie Scott was the last open anchor and the mall was sealed off. 2004 it closed for good and they tore everything down.
Many have mentioned the removal of the fountain. Malls started removing these in the mid 80s. Mall managements said it was because merchants, and their employees, complained about hearing the noise of the running water all day/evening. Sorry, that's not the real reason. Fountains are maintenance intensive. People toss all sorts of things into fountains. The bottoms get slimy and need cleaning lest someone try to walk through one (and yes people do), and they slip, fall, get injured, and call one of those personal injury lawyers keeping your local TV station on the air. Behind the scenes fountains need equipment similar to what's used to keep the water clean in a swimming pool. BTW: I loved mall fountains back in the 80s and I miss them mall fountains today.
Thank you for bringing vintage malls to a vintage mall lover. Up until 12 years ago the mall I started going to in 1974 the Sunrise Mall in Citrus Heights .ca. stayed pretty much the same and then they remodeled In an effort to revitalize. I just don't think we realize how much we a losing until it's to late.
Elkhart is my hometown, I grew up going to this mall. I moved to California in 2010 so it's crazy to see how empty its become since I left. I always thought the conversation pits were so cool but never really grasped the '70s time capsule this mall was. It was a weird place, but it was our weird place and I spent many, many hours just hanging out here with my friends. The "Prime Retail" area you see at 6:23 used to be the core arcade for the mall, and was where I spent most my time. I set my first ever pinball high score there on a Dr. Dude in the early 2000's. I love that mall so much.
Wow!! The 70s called and they said the Concord Malls rad! The intro musics so dope Anthony we just time traveled to the 70s no Delorean necessary. Amazing mall its a time capsule mind blown!!!
Funny you mentioned a Delorean time machine LOL. I live in Elkhart and I always thought from the road on one end with the old style J.C. Penny sign that this mall resembles the one from Back to the Future when they're in the mall parking lot waiting on those Arabs.
Right now I'm 15 yet this store in my city is still running up, I'm glad that this store is still alive, the store is slowly dissolving away sadly because the lack of people coming there. Great memories in the city I live in - from a 15 year old Hispanic American guy that is a extreme introvert :)
It was quite the place about 20 years ago, maybe even a couple years into the 2000's. From what I've heard the owners just charge tenants entirely too much for small spaces and that forced many businesses out. My friends and I would hang out here for hours in the summer and odd weekends. I spent way too much of my paper route and allowance money in this old building. Memories galore, that's for sure.
This was my mall growing up, too. The best thing was our Girl Scout troop got to spend the night around the fountain in those conversation area, sleeping bags lined up. My brother and I would always climb up those pyramid brick structures and the middle felt like it should have been a slide. I have slight memories of eating at a restaurant inside Robertson’s that had a treasure chest in front to pick a prize. We always Christmas shopped there. I remember buying a candle for my mom that was made with layers of sand. Got a pair of Van’s there. Ate at MCL quite often. There was for a time a soda fountain ice cream place but I can’t remember the name. Got my hair cut at Regis. Thought Orange Julius sounded gross. Begged to get a treat from Strauss Bakery. Bought an AT&T telephone at the telephone store. Got our pictures taken at Olen Mills.
I grew up with this mall... in the center where the children’s play area is; there used to be a huge water fountain with tall metal stacks.. unfortunately, the hard water build up plugged up the sprayers and the stacks... they shut it down....for awhile they just filled it with fake plants and other decorations and used fake snow on it to make a winter wonder land for Christmas.. unfortunately, it was just too much money to repair and restore the thing.. it was eventually torn out, the circle filled with cement, and carpeted, and playground added... this fountain was a significant fixture in the memories of the people who grew up in Elkhart.
This is actually my hometown mall. I remember the 1st time I ever when there. My father took my sister, brother and I there. It was at Christmas time. I had actually never heard of a mall...I was only like 9 years old. I thought it was the most amazing place I'd ever been in. A factor in that is it was at Christmas time and the place was full of Christmas decor. Thanks so much for posting this...and what 9 year old doesn't like Christmas?!?
It’s like the place is stuck in the 70’s. , which isn’t a bad thing. I can’t believe how beautiful the floors are kept. I also can’t believe that Carson’s still had that much inventory left, given the 20-60% closing sale. Maybe consumers are becoming indifferent to such sales.
I'm not 100% sure on it, but allegedly I hear many say that the liquidator marks prices up from what those items were priced at till the final week before a closing sale begins, and then discounts them only at slow increments at first to give an allusion that you are getting a discount. That perhaps is why such liquidation sales may not go as strongly anymore, since sometimes one can find the same thing for cheaper online. Granted if the price difference isn't much more expensive at the store during a liquidation(i.e. if an item was barely more expensive than the shipping cost), I'll overlook that issue and buy it at a store.
Those conversation pits used to contain a number of 6" coin-operated black& white TVs mounted to the brickwork so that mallgoers could sit, smoke, and watch Young & the Restless.
Lol I remember Meis (pronounced Meece). There was one is Mattoon, IL until around 1989 when it was bought by Elder Beerman around 1989, and eventually changed to Carson Pirie Scott or Carson’s for short. I used to love going to the Cross County mall in Mattoon. It was built in 1971, and had a Walgreens with an adjoining restaurant. Whenever I visited my aunts and grandmother when I was a kid, that mall was a staple. Sadly, it fell into decline around the mid to late 90s. Still I enjoy visiting for the memories
Lived near Concord Mall, spent thousands of hours and dollars there, cleaned the floors and bathrooms there during High School, - someday this type of mall will make a comeback. Not sure if the producer of this YT Channel realizes that there used to be a huge 60's style water fountain in the center that rose to the very top of that atrium glass ceiling. It really was the place to be.
I visited this mall TODAY(and hours ago, since it's now overnight hours), and I'm really glad I did pay it a visit. Will post them on Dead Malls Enthusiasts FB group soon. Aside from a biatch of one employee at one of the stores near Carson's who briefly whined at me about photography, I had no probs taking pics here. After that encounter I rechecked that particular picture, and UGH it turns out neither her store NOR herself made it into that picture! Even the guard who I saw occasionally walking around, didn't care that I was discretely taking pics. It was a great mall, and the people here were very friendly(that one biatch employee excluded). I much better appreciate this video watching it a 2nd time(right now as we speak, after my Concord visit), since now due to visiting, I have a completely clear idea how this place is laid out. Thanks to Ace for doing this vid, since it was one of 2 nudges(along with Carson's closing) that ultimately convinced me to do a visit today. BTW about the Carson's here, discounts are now at 60-80% off, and when I asked a few employees, they still didn't know the store's last day it'll be open. I suspect it'll close by no later than mid-April(in 1 or 2 weeks), if I had to do a gut feeling guess by the amount of merchandise left.
You need to hit up Indiana again. Richmond, Anderson, Marion and Logansport. All 4 dead malls. Sadly Anderson's Mounds Mall is closing totally April 1st.
Nice shots - always bittersweet to see my old mall in zombie state like this. Re Meis - we always pronounced it "mees," but I'm from Indiana, so who knows. Wish I could dig up a picture of that old fountain that was in the center, because it was phenomenal.
Wow - what a 70's gem! Great job recording it! This and the music reminded me of visiting our "new" malls in the late 70's complete with a visit to Spencers for black lights, Disco Balls, Pyramid Power, and Pet Rocks... ;)
I live 10 min from this mall. My wife and I bring our small children to play at the RV park. It truly is an incredible mall. Only Penney’s (closing in May), Hobby Lobby, Enzo Pizza and a small eye doctor remain. I fear the mall’s future when Penney’s goes. Lately, the mall has started to deteriorate, which is a cryin shame… It does need to be preserved. I hope that happens. Oh yeah, there is a Champs in there still. Kind of random.
Thank you for posting this gem. Being a small kid during the 1970s and double digits during the 1980s I have spent a few hours at the mall. Change is inevitable but it was a great time. I wish the mall could make a comeback but online shopping is making it difficult for stores like Walmart to succeed which I feel is not such a bad thing. But we all have less money today than we used to so we try to save as much as we can.
WOW! Major vintage here. Seems like the mall is frozen in the late 70s, even the store fronts for JC Penney and Carsons (guess closing because of parent company Bon Ton's bankruptcy.) The Carsons looks like they just changed the signage and didn't update. Having major flashbacks of roaming the malls of New Jersey on summer break just to get out of the house. Before all that classic decor turned bland and black and plastic, many at Simon malls. The Spencers gifts looks like one of the few stores that got pushed into the new millenium. Awesome find Ace. Was that music playing in the mall or added by you? It sounds like typical Mall Musak from the late 70s/early 80s, but a purrfect touch. Thanks for doing this one.
My local mall, about half of the mall is closed off now, there are only a few stores on the other half :( also the food court is completely gone except for the pizza place. In the early 2000s there was another arcade that was pretty huge but it is empty now.
They need to designate that place a historic landmark. I would hate for us to lose such a beautiful examples of 1970s architecture and interior design.
Isn't that how it usually goes with demolishing old buildings: "you don't know what you got til its gone." Why do we have to keep making the same mistakes. Thanks for the reply.
If the mall management/owners were clever they'd make use of and push that 70's aesthetic. When a new tenant comes in, require their store facade to keep with the theme of the era. It could be a selling point for the place.
Just remember, what looks "dated" right now will become "retro someday.
I agree, but maintenence to keep it up would be in the millions. Who pays it? Maybe make a museum and stage all the stores with fake stores from the past and charge admission. What stores would have to be included?
Me to
I love this! I was there for the grand opening day of this mall. August 9, 1972. Yes, Concord mall has NOT changed since it's opening. The floor tiles, wall architecture and even the sunken floor rest areas are all original. The center court mall fountain was shut down in 1990 and was replaced with the RV park theme toys. Believe it or not, this mall used to be packed on the weekends! It was a nice mall well ahead of it's time back in the 70's and 80's. It started dying a slow death in the early 90's and is now in it's current state of a barren waste land.
I used to live in Elkhart spent many Saturdays there with my bestie. I'm so sad that it has been treated so bad by owners.
Must have been great to be in its grand opening
1972 was the year for 2 things
- the release of Pong, the first commercial video game
- the year my house was built!
A total gem. I dig it
That is one of the most beautiful malls I've ever seen.
Extremely rare to see a basically untouched mall. I love the lights, the lighting of everything, the colors and all of the vintage architecture, an absolute gem.
Ben Dawson , I wish the stores with the merchandise from the 1970s were available I miss those days.
Me too. If I had a mall I would give it three sections that looked like a mall did in the mid 1950s, mid 60s and early to late 70s. Music from each decade would play in those sections, there would be employees dressed in period clothing etc., and I would try to get some of the stores to sell vintage merchandise. I know sadly I'll never have that kind of money, but I may try to find an empty movie theater and give it the early 1970s look, and charge 70s prices, play old movies with cartoons, news reels, old comedy shorts, vintage trailers and bumpers before the movies, like how the movie theater experience used to be. You know, when it was fun and most movies were good. That wouldn't take a lot of money.
I just need to find others who have that same interest in vintage things like me.
Ben Dawson , it is great idea
Ben Dawson , I love nostalgia, drive-in movies. I fortunately have 3 that I can visit often. Here are some trailers and intermission films you may enjoy m.czcams.com/video/ub6aiTrPRCM/video.html there are many posted here on You Tube.
There used to be a magnificent sculptural fountain in the middle of the mall. Spent a lot of time there when I was young.
Wow, the most 70's mall I have seen thus far!
The most amazing thing is how it survived the 80's and 90's without a makeover. Not only that, but it looks like it has been very well taken care of over so many decades.
It looks great!
I loving that diagonal wood paneling store fronts.
Fantastic mall! It’s dripping with 70’s aesthetic. Great video!
I feel like crying, I spent many many hours at this mall with my friends when I lived in Elkhart 1978- Jan 1983
Concord mall is now closed. All stores vacated. Set to be demolished. I almost teared up when I heard the news. I spent so much time there as a child and teenager. 😢
This mall has absolutely beautiful architecture, it’s clean, it looks like it’s in great shape although it’s a vintage 70s mall
I love the enthusiasm in your voice as the video began. And it really IS a 1970's gem! Great video!
This may be one of my favorite malls that you've documented so far. I felt like I was in a time machine looking at the 70's lighting and tiles! I loved it!
Leann Brooks i agree!!
You're absolutely right about this mall - I've never seen a video that shows one with this level of completely original, and rather sophisticated, 1970s architecture throughout. Personally I wouldn't feel properly dressed walking through it without wearing bell bottoms and a huge flared collar on my paisley-patterned shirt :)
Peter Stean---Bell bottom blue jeans! I remember getting a new pair caught in the chain on my bicycle. I can still hear my mother, "I just bought those and you tore them already?" I had two pairs of bell bottoms in my early teen years. No more.
When I was very little - I guess 5 or 6 years old - I had a beautiful denim suit with flares and a huge collar. I feel a little sad that early '70s fashion hasn't come back in a big way because I remember it as very stylish. I don't think I've ever looked better, in a fashion sense, than I did then!
The built in seating and those tiles /brick work 😍
I wonder if the architect ever would have thought that someday somebody would speak of his 'conversation pits' as being amazing ;-) But you're right, they look pretty cool just as the whole mall
As a person who lives in Indiana, i loved this mall when I was little. The potted plants, Carson's. The streamers on the ceiling. All gone. Ben's pretzels and a bunch of other stores are gone. The parking lot is never full. But it's still a historic landmark for the crossroads of America. It might be dead. But it was hella fun! I'm 13 now. 4 or 5 it was still alive but, seeing a huge chunk of my childhood slip away and rot. Hits me hard. But on 1997, its grand opening, and creation. Gives me a sense of joy for the people who stepped foot on the smooth tiles of the Concord Mall.
This mall is my dream! It is so vintage!
You can just feel the 70s vibe off the whole pace.
Except the music, of course.
I grew up in South Bend and we went here often. I miss the huge fountain they used to have in the center court. It was gigantic!
This is in my town and I was in high school when they built this Mall. It was the place to be. In the middle where you see the children's play area, was a huge fountain. It looked like several huge flutes standing on end and the water went clear up and over with a pool surrounding it and people would throw change in. Bad news is it is currently being forclosed on so if you're in the market for a mall, now's your chance!
I still have dreams about that fountain to this day. It was truly glorious!
Crap, just read your comment regarding the children's play area after posting! New there had to be something way more cool in that location rather than a sucky kids play area!
The fountain was the bomb back in the day:)
Wow, time capsule. Nice to see it is still very well maintained anyway. Love the brick and tile work.
Yes, finally someone did this mall!
I grew up in Goshen and this was our local mall. My memories are of the 80's heyday of this place. I was an elementary school kid in the early-mid 80s and in Jr High in the late 80s. My first memories of the 3 anchor stores were that they were Montgomery Ward, JCPenney, and Meese. (He pronounces it as "Mice" in this video - the way we locals said it, it rhymed with "fleece") Of these, only JCP was still there when last I stopped by for nostalgia 10 years ago. The Meese became an Elder Berman and later a Carsons's that is now closed and the Montgomery Ward became Hobby Lobby. Concord Mall was often packed on 80's weekends and holidays were insane. They had an Aladdin's Castle video arcade on the stretch between JC Penney and the central fountain. That place was absolutely vintage, with old classic arcade cabinets, many that cannot be found anywhere today outside private collections. The central fountain itself was an incredible example of 70s architecture. It had multiple vertical pillars that would expel water in various different ways depending on the day. In my opinion, the golden era of Concord Mall ended when 2 things happened: Aladdin's Castle closed in 1990 followed by the demolition of the fountain in favor of the crummy children's play area you see in this video. Even so, I would still go to the Mall in the early 90's with my parents. We'd always eat at the MCL Cafeteria and then go peruse the Walden's Books Store directly across. When I left the area around 1994 the mall was in a slow decline but still doing business. 15 years later I came back to find it a ghost of it's former self. But like he says in this video - if you like vintage architecture, you'll find it here. The planters are either white tile pyramids or circular white tile seated areas and the brick masonry in the conversation pits at 5:00 in the video are exactly the way I remember them in the 80s. While it's a sad shame that the central fountain is long gone, the white 70s era floor tile around the central area remains. The masonry around the child's play area is all original and was what surrounded the fountain pit where people would toss pennies in the water. You can see this architecture at 8:00 in the video. The ceiling at 7:05 in front of JCP is vintage - that area was a central focus of traffic as the space in front of the primary anchor store. The space in front of JCP was a teenager nexus because Musicland was the store to the right of JCP and Sega's Time Out (The crappy replacement for the previously mentioned glorious Aladdin's Castle) was on the left. The long block masonry at the Carson's storefront is original to the Roberson's of 1972 and the Meese store I remember from the 80s. The front of the out-of-business bookstore seen at 2:00 is actually the original vintage storefront of the Walden's Books that used to be there, but repainted white.. The entire mall is like a time capsule to an era of 80's glory. It would be a shame to tear it down. Better to designate it as a historical landmark now that 50 years have elapsed since it's construction.
Looks like they took great care of that mall. Gorgeous! Thanks for sharing!
Pride! It's almost a lost art today in the US.....The remnants of it still exist in flyover country.
Beautiful 1970s mall. I love the interior's vintage green color tones and the lighting. Thanks for sharing this. I hope this mall keeps going and stays the way it looks inside.
Very groovy 70s style cool video man keep up the great work
I grew up going to this mall, l remember how busy it used to be. I now take my kids there, we eat Pizza at Enzos and stroll the mall. I tell my kids about the fountain (now long gone), that l used to toss pennies into, about the KB toystore. Montgomery Wards, Osco Drugs and so on. They listen but don't have those memories. Its fun...but it gives me a longing to return for a moment to those days.... I guess coming to Concord mall takes me back in time, and l don't want to let go of this one place that time has forgot.
😎 Right on! This mall is out of sight 👍
This literally brought tears to my eyes...THESE are the malls I grew up in........ "Get off my lawn you kids!"
Vintage aesthetic overload! I love it.
Holy Cow, you've found a time capsule!!! Right down to the chairs in the Carson's store.
The architecture and decor here are incredible! I really hope it stays intact for a little longer...
We have an early 70s subway station similar to this in NYC. 47th Street and Broadway. Orange brick walls, cantilevered terrazzo benches, can lights, sound absorbing ceilings, terrazzo floors and one or two large baked enamel art panels. It cost millions and was a prototype that was only imitated once, at Bowling Green.
What a beautiful time capsule! There’s something so satisfying seeing these malls decors!
I live nearby here and just visited it with my friend. It's even deader now but is still holding on by a thread. We even lost the Spencers!
I've been WANTING someone to come check this mall out. YAY!
I love the lighting on the sides towards the ceiling. Beautiful interior!
I am just absolutely drooling over the vintage aesthetics of this whole mall. Very 70s to the core.
I looove that JC Penneys entrance at 6:06
Evansmustard Right the lighting and facade are so 70s rad its Amazing its still there!
Back when malls were in their heyday, it was Joslin's, not JCPenney.
I grew up in this mall....great memories!! Especially the Arcades!! And Kay Bee Toys!!!!
The childerns play area used to be a huge fountain with something like 3 or 4 wooden poles of various height that water came out of. I used to throw pennys in it as a kid
The last original tenant from the 1972 opening was Walden Books (03:34 - the vacant store that says "book store" in it's front window) which closed about 4 years ago.
This is in indiana where i live
Growing up going to this mall sad as hell to see it dying the way it is i remeber a time when all the stores were filled
This was amazing!!! I can not believe how many times I've been to elkhart and never knew this place existed! I have got to go here!!
What an incredible, beautiful mall..love the plant and seating areas! Greaat vid!
That is a cool looking mall. I hope it survives. Losing another anchor isn't going to help
It's slated to close.
This is like memory lane, it all looks so good, very clean! Great job Ace!
I miss the MCL Cafeteria and Strauss Bakery..Bought all my concert tickets at Super Sounds.Good times.
Amazing video and another beautiful vintage mall.
Not gonna lie, I found myself swaying back and forth in my chair when the music started lol.
That sortnof wonderful moodiness and grandeur that used to be part of a good 70s mall. Dark and elegant.
Joann's was NOT an original anchor. that spot used to be a five and dime type store called Mc Crory's, Joanns didn't move in until the late 80s early 90s timeline....glad you stopped and enjoyed it. I only live 30 miles away now, I grew up in this mall and I need to get back and say goodbye before they tear it down
What a beautiful retro mall...I really enjoyed this one Ace! 👍
What a find!
Thank you so much for touring this this beautiful before she sinks forever.
Your audio work on this episode was perfect.
This is probably the video that best conjures up the feelings I had as a kid walking around a place like this. You don't think about it much today but the design of these places had quite the effect on the way you felt. My memories of mall shopping start in the early 80s and this is as close to what it was like back then. It feels good to know the nostalgia that sometimes crosses my brain isn't built on youthful fantasy and indeed has some basis in reality.
Great video. Love the vintage. Thanks.
Now if the muzak was still really playing too this would be a dream come true! I miss mall life soooo much ☹️
It really does. Then the cleaning crew flips to rap at night. I work at the ABC Warehouse in this mall.
Iconic 70s aesthetic features
Liz Moulton unreal in person
@@AcesAdventures1 I bet it was amazing in person. Did you ever get to see Midtown Plaza in Rochester before it was demolished?
Liz Moulton unfortunately not
I swear to god I clicked on a Dan Bell video and I thought I was watching a Dan Bell video all the way up until you started to speak! Nevertheless, awesome work!! Glad I found this channel
Haunting and beautiful, youve outdone yourself!
I spent alot of time at this mall in the 70s and 80s. Oh how the great have fallen!
The Carson's closing reminded me when my local mall closed up for good. Carson Pirie Scott was the last open anchor and the mall was sealed off. 2004 it closed for good and they tore everything down.
Many have mentioned the removal of the fountain. Malls started removing these in the mid 80s. Mall managements said it was because merchants, and their employees, complained about hearing the noise of the running water all day/evening. Sorry, that's not the real reason. Fountains are maintenance intensive. People toss all sorts of things into fountains. The bottoms get slimy and need cleaning lest someone try to walk through one (and yes people do), and they slip, fall, get injured, and call one of those personal injury lawyers keeping your local TV station on the air. Behind the scenes fountains need equipment similar to what's used to keep the water clean in a swimming pool. BTW: I loved mall fountains back in the 80s and I miss them mall fountains today.
Thank you for bringing vintage malls to a vintage mall lover. Up until 12 years ago the mall I started going to in 1974 the Sunrise Mall in Citrus Heights .ca. stayed pretty much the same and then they remodeled In an effort to revitalize. I just don't think we realize how much we a losing until it's to late.
Elkhart is my hometown, I grew up going to this mall. I moved to California in 2010 so it's crazy to see how empty its become since I left. I always thought the conversation pits were so cool but never really grasped the '70s time capsule this mall was. It was a weird place, but it was our weird place and I spent many, many hours just hanging out here with my friends.
The "Prime Retail" area you see at 6:23 used to be the core arcade for the mall, and was where I spent most my time. I set my first ever pinball high score there on a Dr. Dude in the early 2000's. I love that mall so much.
OMG YAAAS!!!
Amazing gem!! So awesome
The lack of skylights gives it a very retro look.
Wow!! The 70s called and they said the Concord Malls rad! The intro musics so dope Anthony we just time traveled to the 70s no Delorean necessary. Amazing mall its a time capsule mind blown!!!
Funny you mentioned a Delorean time machine LOL. I live in Elkhart and I always thought from the road on one end with the old style J.C. Penny sign that this mall resembles the one from Back to the Future when they're in the mall parking lot waiting on those Arabs.
Right now I'm 15 yet this store in my city is still running up, I'm glad that this store is still alive, the store is slowly dissolving away sadly because the lack of people coming there.
Great memories in the city I live in
- from a 15 year old Hispanic American guy that is a extreme introvert :)
Wow, what a beautiful mall! I wished that I could afford to buy a mall like this and restore it to the original version.
No matter the era this is from... looked like a great mall.... Thank you for this ..
It was quite the place about 20 years ago, maybe even a couple years into the 2000's. From what I've heard the owners just charge tenants entirely too much for small spaces and that forced many businesses out. My friends and I would hang out here for hours in the summer and odd weekends. I spent way too much of my paper route and allowance money in this old building. Memories galore, that's for sure.
This was my mall growing up, too. The best thing was our Girl Scout troop got to spend the night around the fountain in those conversation area, sleeping bags lined up. My brother and I would always climb up those pyramid brick structures and the middle felt like it should have been a slide. I have slight memories of eating at a restaurant inside Robertson’s that had a treasure chest in front to pick a prize. We always Christmas shopped there. I remember buying a candle for my mom that was made with layers of sand. Got a pair of Van’s there. Ate at MCL quite often. There was for a time a soda fountain ice cream place but I can’t remember the name. Got my hair cut at Regis. Thought Orange Julius sounded gross. Begged to get a treat from Strauss Bakery. Bought an AT&T telephone at the telephone store. Got our pictures taken at Olen Mills.
I grew up with this mall... in the center where the children’s play area is; there used to be a huge water fountain with tall metal stacks.. unfortunately, the hard water build up plugged up the sprayers and the stacks... they shut it down....for awhile they just filled it with fake plants and other decorations and used fake snow on it to make a winter wonder land for Christmas.. unfortunately, it was just too much money to repair and restore the thing.. it was eventually torn out, the circle filled with cement, and carpeted, and playground added... this fountain was a significant fixture in the memories of the people who grew up in Elkhart.
Those square lights in front of JC Penny and other lighting are awesome!
Love the abandoned Book Store. It brings up all these memories.
All you need is the dawn of the dead music in the back ground.
Ugh, so in love with this mall. Amazing job.
This mall is awesome. It's like a 70's time capsule. It's almost like they intentionally left it retro, but it's in good condition.
oh I just loved the little merry-go-round at the end! and that mall is to die for! Great vid!
Jazzy Babe spent a lot of time on that as a kid if I remember
This is actually my hometown mall. I remember the 1st time I ever when there. My father took my sister, brother and I there. It was at Christmas time. I had actually never heard of a mall...I was only like 9 years old. I thought it was the most amazing place I'd ever been in. A factor in that is it was at Christmas time and the place was full of Christmas decor. Thanks so much for posting this...and what 9 year old doesn't like Christmas?!?
It’s like the place is stuck in the 70’s. , which isn’t a bad thing. I can’t believe how beautiful the floors are kept. I also can’t believe that Carson’s still had that much inventory left, given the 20-60% closing sale. Maybe consumers are becoming indifferent to such sales.
I'm not 100% sure on it, but allegedly I hear many say that the liquidator marks prices up from what those items were priced at till the final week before a closing sale begins, and then discounts them only at slow increments at first to give an allusion that you are getting a discount. That perhaps is why such liquidation sales may not go as strongly anymore, since sometimes one can find the same thing for cheaper online. Granted if the price difference isn't much more expensive at the store during a liquidation(i.e. if an item was barely more expensive than the shipping cost), I'll overlook that issue and buy it at a store.
Those conversation pits used to contain a number of 6" coin-operated black& white TVs mounted to the brickwork so that mallgoers could sit, smoke, and watch Young & the Restless.
Holyyyyyyyyy 70’s!! 😯
Lol I remember Meis (pronounced Meece). There was one is Mattoon, IL until around 1989 when it was bought by Elder Beerman around 1989, and eventually changed to Carson Pirie Scott or Carson’s for short. I used to love going to the Cross County mall in Mattoon. It was built in 1971, and had a Walgreens with an adjoining restaurant. Whenever I visited my aunts and grandmother when I was a kid, that mall was a staple. Sadly, it fell into decline around the mid to late 90s. Still I enjoy visiting for the memories
Lived near Concord Mall, spent thousands of hours and dollars there, cleaned the floors and bathrooms there during High School, - someday this type of mall will make a comeback. Not sure if the producer of this YT Channel realizes that there used to be a huge 60's style water fountain in the center that rose to the very top of that atrium glass ceiling. It really was the place to be.
yasss a new vid!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! but i would recommend richland mall in sc, it is stuck in the 1980's! Really cool signage and what not.
I visited this mall TODAY(and hours ago, since it's now overnight hours), and I'm really glad I did pay it a visit. Will post them on Dead Malls Enthusiasts FB group soon. Aside from a biatch of one employee at one of the stores near Carson's who briefly whined at me about photography, I had no probs taking pics here. After that encounter I rechecked that particular picture, and UGH it turns out neither her store NOR herself made it into that picture! Even the guard who I saw occasionally walking around, didn't care that I was discretely taking pics. It was a great mall, and the people here were very friendly(that one biatch employee excluded).
I much better appreciate this video watching it a 2nd time(right now as we speak, after my Concord visit), since now due to visiting, I have a completely clear idea how this place is laid out. Thanks to Ace for doing this vid, since it was one of 2 nudges(along with Carson's closing) that ultimately convinced me to do a visit today. BTW about the Carson's here, discounts are now at 60-80% off, and when I asked a few employees, they still didn't know the store's last day it'll be open. I suspect it'll close by no later than mid-April(in 1 or 2 weeks), if I had to do a gut feeling guess by the amount of merchandise left.
You need to hit up Indiana again. Richmond, Anderson, Marion and Logansport. All 4 dead malls. Sadly Anderson's Mounds Mall is closing totally April 1st.
9:16- love that front entrance to the mall from the former Carsons'
Nice shots - always bittersweet to see my old mall in zombie state like this. Re Meis - we always pronounced it "mees," but I'm from Indiana, so who knows. Wish I could dig up a picture of that old fountain that was in the center, because it was phenomenal.
I agree with you on this. Was so sad to see the fountain gone.
Wow - what a 70's gem! Great job recording it! This and the music reminded me of visiting our "new" malls in the late 70's complete with a visit to Spencers for black lights, Disco Balls, Pyramid Power, and Pet Rocks... ;)
Excellent choice of music with John Cameron's Liquid Sunshine!
All through the 80's me and my best friend lived at that mall
I live 10 min from this mall. My wife and I bring our small children to play at the RV park. It truly is an incredible mall. Only Penney’s (closing in May), Hobby Lobby, Enzo Pizza and a small eye doctor remain. I fear the mall’s future when Penney’s goes. Lately, the mall has started to deteriorate, which is a cryin shame… It does need to be preserved. I hope that happens. Oh yeah, there is a Champs in there still. Kind of random.
Thank you for posting this gem. Being a small kid during the 1970s and double digits during the 1980s I have spent a few hours at the mall. Change is inevitable but it was a great time. I wish the mall could make a comeback but online shopping is making it difficult for stores like Walmart to succeed which I feel is not such a bad thing. But we all have less money today than we used to so we try to save as much as we can.
Those Ben's pretzels are SO good!!!
WOW! Major vintage here. Seems like the mall is frozen in the late 70s, even the store fronts for JC Penney and Carsons (guess closing because of parent company Bon Ton's bankruptcy.) The Carsons looks like they just changed the signage and didn't update.
Having major flashbacks of roaming the malls of New Jersey on summer break just to get out of the house. Before all that classic decor turned bland and black and plastic, many at Simon malls.
The Spencers gifts looks like one of the few stores that got pushed into the new millenium.
Awesome find Ace. Was that music playing in the mall or added by you? It sounds like typical Mall Musak from the late 70s/early 80s, but a purrfect touch.
Thanks for doing this one.
My local mall, about half of the mall is closed off now, there are only a few stores on the other half :( also the food court is completely gone except for the pizza place. In the early 2000s there was another arcade that was pretty huge but it is empty now.
Get some pictures & video of it because my Mall was like that for about 4 years & just completely shut down in March of 2019